Mobilising community participation and engagement: The perspective of regeneration professionals

Literature suggests that the successful transformation of inner city areas is dependent upon regeneration professionals closely involving local residents, within a sprit of genuine partnership working. Yet urban regeneration programmes have been largely criticised for the way resident engagement and participation have been conducted, leading to debate on the requisite skillset of the regeneration professional. Undertaking semi-structured interviews with regeneration professionals in an area of the north-west of England with an established urban regeneration company, this paper examines the challenges that professionals encountered facilitating community involvement. The findings identified professional, institutional and organisational barriers that prevented regeneration professionals from mobilising the necessary tools, expertise and knowledge to practise effective engagement, including the absence formal training, limited opportunity for peer-to-peer reflection and the lack of role freedom. Addressing these barriers is fundamental to ensuring that regeneration professionals can share and negotiate meaningful forms of community participation and engagement.